A congressman with a history of sex scandals faces off against a Republican challenger
hand-picked and financed by two billionaires looking out for their corporate interests.

Just to be clear:
The Campaign is a comedy, not a docudrama.

Directed by Jay Roach, who guided the
Austin Powers franchise and
Meet the Parents as well as the HBO political movies
Recount and
Game Change,
The Campaign seeks to satirize the electoral process and finds some success.

Will Ferrell draws on previous performances — specifically, his character in
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and his stage turn as President George W. Bush
— to portray Cam Brady, a North Carolina Democrat who thinks he is running unchallenged for his
fifth term in Congress.

When his approval ratings dive after his latest indiscretion goes public, an opportunity is seen
by industrialists Wade and Glenn Motch (Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow as a thinly veiled fictional
version of the real-life Koch brothers).A candidate of their choosing, with the right grooming and
talking points, could win the district and spearhead their plan to establish legal Chinese
sweatshops in the States.

So, in Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), the less-than-favorite son of a Motch crony (Brian
Cox), they find the right combination of patriotism, enthusiasm and naive malleability. After a
hard-as-nails campaign manager (Dylan McDermott) is deployed, Marty’s cardigans are replaced with
suits, his wife is given a Katie Couric bob and his prized pugs are sidelined in favor of less “
communist” pets.

The Campaign seems strongest when utter absurdity reigns, as when a photo op with an
infant goes violently wrong or when the audience is introduced to a family maid (the sharpest
gag).

Roach also tries to include among the high jinks a lesson about the workings of modern politics.
Though informative and refreshingly thoughtful, the idea comes off as clunky.

The biggest problem lies not in the work of the creators but in the actions of politicians in
the real world.Unfortunately, where ridiculous foibles and election stunts are concerned, most
everything short of a baby being punched in the face has already been done.